One of 3 rent assistance portals to close due to funds being exhausted

Brian Walker, 509-625-6765

Thursday, August 18, 2022 at 5:20 p.m.

One of three emergency rent assistance application portals available to tenants and landlords in Spokane city limits will stop accepting applications for those without eviction notices at 5 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 19 due to funds through that portal being exhausted.

The portal through contractor LiveStories, which accommodates all eligible city tenants and landlords, will close on Friday. LiveStories has received more than 500 applications since reopening on Aug. 11. A portal that accept applications for households with minor children and another that prioritizes applications from eligible African American and BIPOC households are still accepting applications.

“The City is doing everything it can to quickly get out rental assistance resources that helps keep people in need housed as they recover from financial hardships presented by the pandemic,” Mayor Nadine Woodward said. “We anticipated this type of demand and encourage eligible applicants in the other two categories to apply before funding runs out.”

The City recently received a total of $5.59 million in Eviction Rent Assistance Program (ERAP 2.0) funds from the Washington Department of Commerce for Spokane tenants and landlords. Requests to access those funds can be submitted online via the application portal.

Tenants and landlords were encouraged to apply for funding as soon as possible with no guarantees on how long funding would last.

Emergency rent application portals through Family Promise of Spokane, which accepts applications for eligible households with minor children, and The Carl Maxey Center, which prioritizes applications from eligible African American and BIPOC household, remain open until further notice.

The City, through its partners, has distributed approximately $33 million in emergency rent and utility assistance funding since June 2021. More than 6,500 households in the city have benefitted from the program. The additional state funding extended that program.

In addition to online applications, the organizations also accept paper applications. Applicants must meet all three of the initial screening criteria to be eligible for rental and/or utility assistance:

  • Household income is at or below 80% of the Area Median Income (examples: $47,150 for a one-person family; $67,300 for a four-person family);
  • Household is within the City of Spokane boundary; and
  • Currently have a missed/past due rent payment not paid or partially unpaid since March 1, 2020, and still occupying the residence.

SNAP processes emergency rent assistance applications for Spokane County residents.